It’s just not on the cards

If I rip up your business card, don’t panic. It is actually a positive sign. Read on to see why…

We recently ran our second Annual Innovation Leadership Festival. A variety of different speakers discussing how innovation in services occurs both in Australia and overseas, with specific emphasis on empirical research.

All good solid stuff in a day-long program, with around 100 attendees.

On the following Monday of course, I have my usual issue. Mounds of stuff to go through to make sure my ‘T’s are crossed and my ‘I’s are dotted. This generally revolves around; administration, preparation of reports on the day, and making sure I have all details entered correctly for everyone I have met.

In some ways, it’s no different from other days – just a higher volume of work to be plowed through.

First off, I set to work ripping up business cards.

That’s right, I rip them up – but first I enter them into my CRM system (Maximiser 8).

The reason I rip up the cards is because I know who I am; a lazy bugger who will let piles of cards sit around. I will never market to these people if they’re not in my CRM system, and I am almost never guaranteed to find the details I need about them, as usually I only have someone’s email address.

Consequently, I have found that the best way of manipulating myself into being efficient is to rip up the business cards as soon as I have entered their details – kind of like giving myself a mini ultimatum: “If you don’t enter them now, they’re gone forever.”

Works for me.

I just generally don’t people that I will have ripped up their business card within 24 hours of meeting them. Despite the fact they know it makes perfect sense, they can’t help but feel that the two cents worth of paper and ink has value and maybe they shouldn’t give me their card.

Brendan Lewis is the founder of two IT service firms, Edion and Verve IT, and executive director of the Churchill Club.

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